Fulham were knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the Fourth Round by current holders Manchester City after a 2-0 defeat.

The home side opened the scoring in the first-half through a Brahim Diaz goal which took a deflection off Aleksandar Mitrović before hitting the back of the net.

It was Diaz who doubled the Citizens’ lead after the break when he turned in the rebound from Gabriel Jesus’ shot which was flicked onto the post by Sergio Rico.

Slaviša Jokanović made three changes to the side that faced Bournemouth last weekend, including a return to the starting XI for captain Tom Cairney.

The skipper replaced the suspended Kevin McDonald while Luciano Vietto and André-Frank Zambo Anguissa came in for Aboubakar Kamara and Maxime Le Marchand.

Manchester City made 10 changes to the team that defeated Tottenham Hotspur on Monday night with John Stones the only player to keep his starting berth.

With five minutes on the clock Rico was forced to make a save after Kevin De Bruyne got a shot off from a tight angle following a run down the left of the Fulham defence.

A great last ditch tackle from Tim Ream, which forced a corner, denied De Bruyne from a second potential scoring opportunity after a neat low cross from Leroy Sane.

In the 14thminute of the game Rico was once again called into action, this time after Phil Foden got a shot off from inside the box which the Spanish ‘keeper parried away.

Fulham’s first chance came minutes later when the Whites countered from their own box, tidy play from Jean Michaël Seri, Cairney, Mitrović and André Schürrle eventually saw Vietto free down the right but his low shot was a routine save for Aro Muric.

Despite being on top it was a fortuitous deflection which saw the home side take the lead in the 18thminute, Diaz’s shot wrong-footed Rico after hitting Mitrović inside the box.

Danilo went close six minutes later after a mazy run down the right took him to the byline but the Brazilian’s effort fired off Rico’s goal-frame.

Mitrović was looking for the far post when he spun and fired an effort in the Manchester City penalty area but Fabian Delph got the block in and it hit the Serbian and went out for a goal kick in the 33rd minute.

City had a huge chance to double their lead just before the break but an unmarked Foden headed wide after a clever cross from De Bruyne on the right.

Then in added time Gabriel Jesus benefited from a misplaced Seri pass and went on a mazy run but his shot took a deflection and fell just wide of Rico’s left-hand post.

Five minutes into the second-half and Jesus was again causing problems, he peeled away from his marker to win a free header but he turned Sane’s cross wide of the post.

Just before the hour mark Schürrle found some space down the left and cut in but there wasn’t enough power or placement in the shot for it to truly trouble Muric.

Minutes later Diaz used some good footwork in a crowded Fulham box to get a shot off but Rico was able to keep an eye on the ball and made a good save.

Diaz bagged his second in another turn of events which was beneficial for the side in sky blue. Rico made a good save to force Jesus’ shot onto the post but the rebound fell to Diaz who fired it home in the 65th minute.

Ream was replaced at the heart of the Fulham defence by Le Marchand four minutes later.

The goalscorer Diaz was replaced by the man who got the winner at Wembley on Monday night as Riyad Mahrez was introduced by Pep Guardiola in the 78th minute.

Two minutes later the City captain Vincent Kompany was booked for bringing down Mitrović who was on the break, just inside the home team’s half.

Shortly after, Schürrle was replaced by Floyd Ayité who took up his position on the left flank.

With five minutes to go the influential De Bruyne was replaced by Claudio Gomes.

Just before the 90th minute Cyrus Christie came on for Vietto and the fourth official awarded three minutes of added time but neither side was able to alter the scoreboard after that as the game ended 2-0.